127: Transitioning from the Government to Private Practice - Rachel Levy

Rachel Leiser Levy is principal at Groom Law Group, Chartered, where she advises clients on a wide range of federal tax issues affecting health and welfare plans and retirement plans. Ms. Levy specializes in all tax aspects of the Affordable Care Act, including the “Cadillac Tax”, employer shared responsibility, the new tax reporting requirements of the Internal Revenue Code sections 6055 and 6056, and premium tax credits and cost-sharing reductions. Ms. Levy also works with cafeteria plans, tax nondiscrimination rules and VEBAs. Ms. Levy’s expertise extends to retirement plans, where she advises clients on executive compensation, qualified plans and pension plan funding issues. Ms. Levy provides advice to employers, service providers and trade associations on legislative and regulatory strategy.
Immediately prior to joining Groom Law Group Ms. Levy was Associate Benefits Tax Counsel in the Office of Tax Policy at the US Department of the Treasury. As Associate Benefits Tax Counsel, Ms. Levy helped develop tax policies and guidance related to the taxation of employee benefits with a primary focus on implementation of the Affordable Care Act. Her work included guidance on the employer mandate, the premium tax credits and cost-sharing reductions, and the new tax reporting requirements of Internal Revenue Code sections 6055 and 6056. In her role at Treasury, she coordinated with IRS, DOL, HHS, and the White House Domestic Policy Counsel on all aspects of health care reform implementation, and advised the Office of General Counsel and the Department of Justice on a range of litigation related to the Affordable Care Act.
Prior to her time at the Treasury Department, Rachel was Legislation Counsel at the Joint Committee on Taxation, where she assisted in the development and drafting of numerous pieces of legislation, including the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, the American Workers, State, and Business Relief Act of 2010, the American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act of 2010, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, and the Worker, Retiree, and Employer Recovery Act of 2008 among other legislation.